Kwaidan Lafcadio Hearn Characters
Lafcadio Hearn's ghost stories are full of Japanese ghosts and monsters — vengeful spirits, the Snow Woman, the faceless noppera-bo, the flying-headed rokuro-kubi — and the ordinary people who are unlucky enough to meet them. This page introduces the heroes, the true identities of the monsters, and the main characters who drive the six published tales, with a summary of each story.
All characters17
Hoichi Mimi-nashi Hoichi (Hoichi the Earless)
The blind biwa player who lost his ears to ghosts
Hoichi is the hero of "The Story of Mimi-Nashi-Hoichi" in Lafcadio Hearn's Kwaidan. He is a blind biwa (Japanese lute) player who lives at Amidaji temple in Akamagaseki…
Appears in 1 episode: Episode 1The Priest of Amidaji / The Acolyte The Priest of Amidaji
The head priest who protected Hoichi with sutras
The Priest of Amidaji is the monk in "The Story of Mimi-Nashi-Hoichi" who loves Hoichi's music and storytelling. He lets Hoichi live at the temple and supports him.
Appears in 2 episodes: Episode 1, Episode 2The Samurai (a Ghost) The Armored Samurai (a Heike Ghost)
The ghost warrior who comes for Hoichi each night
The Samurai is the armored warrior in "The Story of Mimi-Nashi-Hoichi" who comes for Hoichi every night. He is really the ghost of a Heike warrior from the clan…
Appears in 1 episode: Episode 1The Elder Lady-in-Waiting (a Ghost) The Elder Lady-in-Waiting (a Heike Ghost)
A ghostly lady who serves the Heike
The Elder Lady-in-Waiting is an older woman in "The Story of Mimi-Nashi-Hoichi" who serves people of high rank. She is really a Heike ghost. In Japanese she is called a…
Appears in 3 episodes: Episode 1, Episode 4, Episode 6O-Yuki (the Snow Woman) O-Yuki (Yuki-onna)
The pale woman who appears in blizzards
Yuki-onna, the Snow Woman, is a Japanese yokai said to appear on snowy nights as a woman in white and freeze people to death. In "Yuki-Onna" from Lafcadio Hearn's…
Appears in 1 episode: Episode 2Minokichi
The woodcutter who broke his promise to the Snow Woman
Minokichi is the hero of "Yuki-Onna" in Lafcadio Hearn's Kwaidan, a young woodcutter from Musashi Province. Every day he went to the forest with the old woodcutter…
Appears in 1 episode: Episode 2Mosaku
The old woodcutter frozen by the Snow Woman
Mosaku is the old woodcutter in "Yuki-Onna" from Lafcadio Hearn's Kwaidan. He is the master of the young hero, Minokichi.
Appears in 1 episode: Episode 2The Weeping Girl by the Moat / The Night Soba Seller Mujina
A shapeshifting animal that scares people as a faceless ghost
A mujina is an animal once believed to trick people by changing its shape. In "Mujina" from Lafcadio Hearn's Kwaidan, it frightens people as a noppera-bo, a figure with…
Appears in 2 episodes: Episode 3, Episode 4The Old Merchant of Kyobashi
The old man who met the faceless ghost twice
The Old Merchant of Kyobashi is the hero of "Mujina" in Lafcadio Hearn's Kwaidan, an elderly merchant from the Kyobashi district of Tokyo. Hearn writes that he was the…
Appears in 1 episode: Episode 3Kwairyo (formerly Isogai Heidazaemon Taketsura) Isogai Heidazaemon Taketsura
The fearless warrior-priest who fought the rokuro-kubi
Kwairyo is the hero of "Rokuro-Kubi" in Lafcadio Hearn's Kwaidan. He was once Isogai Heidazaemon Taketsura, a mighty samurai who served the Kikuchi family of Kyushu.…
Appears in 1 episode: Episode 4The Woodcutter Host (Rokuro-kubi) / The Four Household Members (Rokuro-kubi) Rokuro-kubi
Monsters whose heads come off and fly at night
A rokuro-kubi is a Japanese monster whose neck stretches long or whose head comes off its body and flies around. In "Rokuro-Kubi" from Lafcadio Hearn's Kwaidan, they…
Appears in 1 episode: Episode 4Sekinai
The young retainer who drank the face in his tea
Sekinai is the hero of "In a Cup of Tea" from Lafcadio Hearn's Kotto. He is a wakato (a young, low-ranking retainer) serving a lord named Nakagawa Sado.
Appears in 1 episode: Episode 5Shikibu Heinai / Heinai's three retainers (Matsuoka Bungo, Dobashi Kyuzo, Okamura Heiroku) Shikibu Heinai
The mysterious young samurai seen in a cup of tea
Shikibu Heinai is the young samurai whose face appears in Sekinai's tea in "In a Cup of Tea" from Lafcadio Hearn's Kotto. Whether he is a man, a ghost, or a monster is…
Appears in 1 episode: Episode 5Tomotada
The young samurai who married a willow spirit
Tomotada is the hero of "The Story of Aoyagi" in Lafcadio Hearn's Kwaidan. He is a young samurai serving Hatakeyama Yoshimune, the lord of Noto. He was handsome and…
Appears in 1 episode: Episode 6Aoyagi
A willow spirit who married a young samurai
Aoyagi is the beautiful girl in "The Story of Aoyagi" from Lafcadio Hearn's Kwaidan. She is really the spirit of a willow tree. She lived with her elderly parents in a…
Appears in 1 episode: Episode 6Lord Hosokawa
The Kyoto lord who made the lovers' wish come true
Lord Hosokawa is a powerful daimyo (feudal lord) of Kyoto in "The Story of Aoyagi" from Lafcadio Hearn's Kwaidan.
Appears in 1 episode: Episode 6Shomontei Fukurai
The storyteller who hosts the night of a hundred tales
Shomontei Fukurai is the storyteller (hanashika) who narrates every episode of KAIDAN: Japanese Ghost Stories on Manga Portal. He does not appear in Lafcadio Hearn's…
Appears in 7 episodes: Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6, Episode 7